Well what a summer its been. And by that I mean I was in Edinburgh for the International Fringe Festival and it only rained twice!? Couldn't quite believe it.

Not only was I honoured to have directed and voice acted in the 5* rated Welcome to Tiddleminster, "an absolutely inspired hour of comedy", written by Chris Cantrill, but myself and fellow #voicegeek Laura Hunt provided our voice coaching services to performers at the festival on a 'Pay What you Can' basis, what we liked to call #festvoice...#catchy...#thenextbigthing.

We had a grand old time running around Edinburgh assisting actors, singers, puppeteers and comedians with their vocal quandaries in exchange for beer, show tickets and gratitude. And the odd quid here and there. The whole thing went down very well and we aim to provide the same service next year as it seems like something that could be of benefit.

Laura wrote a great blog about keeping your voice in shape pre festival, which I'd recommend checking out if you're a performer planning on heading up next year. Aaaand along the same theme, here are three basic reminders of how to assist vocal recover after the festival so you can be totally prepared for next year.

- Drink some goddamn water mate; I know what it's like up there for booze and caffeine, yeah? I did coaching in return for beers and even sometimes gin so fully understand the temptation, so give yourself a break. Detox. Stick to water, herbal teas and the odd proper tea, maybe, as a vehicle for a digestive dunk.
- Go to sleep; yeah you heard me. Get some shut eye. It shouldn't be too hard, you've been performing for a whole month. You body has a habit of repairing itself when you're asleep (*insert science-y bit here...) so if you rest the body will do the work for you. Which is nice to know.
- Shut the heck up; just give it a rest, yeah? Have a day or so where you stay in bed, crack on the telly and watch that box set everyone has been telling you to watch but you didn't have time as you were preparing for the Festival. Nowt better than just resting the voice for a wee while. And thing how grateful your housemates/family/significant other will be to have some peace and quiet. Or is that just mine?

So there you go! It's that simple. If you're being really prepared and planning next years Festival already, get in touch with any voice questions or requirements.